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More Wedding Traditions: Bouquet & Garter Toss

I don’t know about you, but while I’ve been engaged I’ve really been thinking about wedding traditions and superstitions, and wondering where they came from. I’ve posted a bit about what we’re doing/what we’re not in the past. Well, today is time to talk about the bouquet and garter!

But, why do brides carry a bouquet? Because it’s pretty and smells good? Nope! According to HowStuffWorks back in the day brides carried garlic and dill ( to try to avoid the plague. Yikes!). In modern times, the tradition was modified to include better smelling items. (Hooray for wedding industry evolution!)

So then, why do brides toss their bouquets? InfoPlease says that it’s because wedding guests used to try to rip the brides dress and flowers in an attempt to have some of her good luck rub off on them. To avoid this, brides started tossing their bouquet to single women with the belief that the one who catches it will be the next to marry.

HowStuffWorks says that in Medieval England, guests would examine the brides stockings to ensure that the marriage had been consumed (Say what?!?). Brides decided to avoid this intrusive tradition, and toss the garter to the crowd instead. These days, catching the garter is thought to be good luck.

With our small guest list, and very limited number of single attendees (both male and female), we’re skipping both the garter and bouquet tosses. Womp, Womp… Although, I do love some of the awesome pictures (and laughs) both of these traditions can bring to a wedding.

What about you, hive? Are you doing a bouquet and/or garter toss? Did you have any idea the history of each of these traditions?